Smile and wave, princess
by Dellinah
Summary: Twilight has been a princess for over a thousand years now. But not all ponies can live that long... (One-shot).


It was a cold, dark night. Cold and dark, yet beautiful. The moon was glooming, the stars were shining, and everything was like it was supposed to be. Everypony was already sleeping in their houses, resting for the next beautiful day Celestia would bring in a few hours.

Everypony was sleeping, happy, smiling, comfortably in their warm beds.

Well, all but one.

Ponies have called her princess for a thousand years now. A thousand years since she got her wings and a crown. She was loved by her subjects, she had everything a princess could want. Her kingdom was big and beautiful, but we couldn't say the same about her happiness.

It had been a while since Twilight had given a true smile. Now she was standing in her balcony in her castle in Ponyville. Oh, Ponyville. It had changed so much, Twilight thought. It was still a small town, but now it had a few buildings and more technology. The farms that once were there now had given space to more houses, and more ponies lived there than ever.

It was a very good town to live, and it was famous now. "The town where the castle of the great princess Twilight is!" Everypony wanted to see it, it was magnificent!

Back to Twilight, she was sitting there in her balcony, looking at the sky. The moon gloomed up there, and she felt the cold wind going through her mane and face, that was all covered in tears.

Millions of images going through her mind, she had so many thoughts but at the same time she couldn't concentrate. Her life had been a black hole, she didn't know what to do, and she just had to live day by day, wake up, be a princess, sleep, wake up.

Because they forgot to tell her that alicorns live forever. And ordinary ponies don't.

She stood up in a pose. Crying beneath the moon light, that scene looked like a beautiful painting. Her mane flew, her eyes fitted the horizon. She spread her wings, and soon she was high.

Eyes closed and flying ahead, always to the north. Twilight knew where she wanted to go. Usually, you go very often to places that make you happy, but now she was going to a place that always made her cry. She used to go once a week, but now it was part of her daily routine.

Why was she doing it? She didn't know at all. Was it any worth? What did she expect from going there all the time? That somehow the past could back? It would never be back, "Face it, Twilight! Face it!" Every muscle of her body told her to go back and have a good night of sleep, yeah, that's what she should do.

But she had to go to that place.

In a few minutes that felt like years, she was there. She slowly closed her wings and started to go down and down, until her hooves touched the grass, hardly. She was facing down, and kept still for a few seconds until she started walking, yet she kept facing down with her eyes almost closed. She didn't need to open them anyway; she already knew the path very well.

The only sound that could be heard in the darkness was the sound of her hooves walking, step by step, but if you listened really closely you could hear some wind going through the trees.

Suddenly, the sound of equine hooves stopped. Twilight was now looking at six cold stones in the ground. Six stones that nopony really cared about, except her. Many ponies visited those stones, but only because of what they meant.

"The elements of harmony". A whole friendship now summed up to a phrase. Nopony really cared for the meaning behind those stones, for the ponies behind the elements. Fame, that's all they cared about. If Twilight wasn't a princess, maybe she or Ponyville wouldn't get so much attention anyway as well.

She finally lifted her head after moments facing the grass. Now she was facing the six stones.

The six graves.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Spike. You almost couldn't read the names anymore, because the stones were already too old. More or less a thousand years.

Twilight started to remember. Each name brought a memory, a feeling. She cast a light spell, and started to read what each grave said, for the detail she had written it herself:

"Applejack – always honest, always there when she was needed. In a different way, I know she still is." Twilight remembered when Applejack started to get old. She couldn't apple buck as hard as she used to, what made her kind of sad. But she kept optimist until her final day.

"Pinkie Pie – wherever you are now, please keep making them smile. I'll try to smile too, but it's hard when you're gone." She kept making parties until her time was over, she said that she'd never got old as long as she could make someone happy. Twilight wished it could make her immortal…

"Rainbow Dash – the most loyal to all. A good heart, a good friend, someone special. The only pony who could light up the sky with a beautiful rainbow" Twilight closed her eyes and saw the beautiful rainbow she saw with her own eyes once. She wish she could see it again…

"Rarity – the most beautiful of all. She may be gone, but we'll always remember the generosity of the generous heart." Twilight gave a tiny smile when she remembered the first time they met. How her mane was all messy and ugly – a fashion disaster Rarity would call. If only she could see Twilight's beautiful new crown….

"Fluttershy – the kindness lives in every creature around us. Even the God of chaos couldn't resist it. Every single soul got touched by the beautiful heart." The beautiful heart was gone… Forever.

The last stone was not very different, but it had nothing written under the name. Twilight simply couldn't think of anything to write down there. Nothing sounded good enough, nothing special. There was only a name.

"Spike".

Twilight broke in tears. Stupid alicorns magic, curse it! Why? Why couldn't she be just an old regular unicorn? She'd be dead and that pain wouldn't exist. Being in pain, was that her destiny? Why? She looked at the sky once more, the moon was still there, glooming.

\- Tell me silver moon, what is worth living when nobody cares about you?

\- I made the same question some thousand years ago, Twilight.

Twilight looked behind and saw princess Luna standing a few feet from her. She started to get closer and kept talking.

\- Being an alicorn means much more than wearing a crown. It means to let go, to grow, to face your daily life and sometimes it means to pretend you like it. Smile and wave, Twilight. Smile and wave. You better go home now. The ugly night is cold, and nopony likes it. As you can see, they all sleep through it and wait for the beautiful day to come. Nobody really cares about the night.

Twilight didn't say a word and faced the opposite direction to see the town. She looked back at where Luna was standing, starting a sentence:

\- I think the night is pretty beau…

But Luna was no longer there.

Her horn started to glow, and Twilight flew home. Luna was right, the night was very cold and ugly. Even with the beautiful moon there, the sky was dark. There was no sound of laughs, no singing, nothing. It was all left to the beautiful day. Nobody really cared about the night, and Luna had to pretend she liked it.

"That makes a very good metaphor", she thought with herself.

A few minutes later she was back to her castle. She sat in the balcony and kept facing the moon, the stars, the night. More tears came down her face. It would be like that then… forever. "Smile and wave, just smile and wave…"

Everypony was sleeping, happy, smiling, comfortably in their warm beds.

Well, all but one, who used to wonder what friendship could be.


End file.
